I love kimekomi technique -- it is so versatile and fun to work with. I played with Christmas decorations in December and gave a lot of great gifts -- my family and friends loved them! Three of them are now in Canada and making their owner happy. At the moment I am playing with Easter decorations -- decorating Easter eggs. I have made...

Continue Reading

For a long long time the only kind of fossilized resin that was allowed to be called amber was Baltic amber. Then along came the second world war and Germans lost their access to the Baltic amber mines. Enterprising companies started looking for amber elswhere and found it, lots of it in fact in Dominican Republic. The original company became so successful that...

Continue Reading

Amber is a naturally occurring fossilization of Pinus succinifera resin. The age of Baltic amber is estimated at 40-60 millions years. It is used for jewelry and medical/beauty purposes. The majority of the world's amber is found in the Baltic Sea region (hence the Inclusion in Baltic Amber (picture from Wikimedia) name -- Baltic amber). Other kinds of amber, added to the classification...

Continue Reading

As most people know, amber is a fossilized resin from coniferous trees. It has many amazing magical and healing properties. Copal is "immature" amber. It's softer and easier to damage, but has most of the same qualities as amber, just to a lesser degree.   How to test your jewelry to see whether it is really made of amber: Light test True Amber...

Continue Reading